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Soyinka accuses Obasanjo of rewarding Bola Ige’s killers

Wole Soyinka, Nobel laureate, has accused
former President Olusegun Obasanjo of protecting and rewarding killers
of Bola Ige, former minister of justice and attorney-general of the
federation.

In a statement on Tuesday titled “Trivialise corruption, Neutralise
justice”, Soyinka said the Nigerian government had refused the offer of
assistance from the United States to bring the killers to justice.

The Noble laureate lamented the high rate of impunity and corruption in
the country which have been trivialised to score “dismissive political
points”.

Commenting on the crisis rocking the judiciary in regards to the
suspension of Walter Onnoghen, former chief justice of Nigeria (CJN),
the foremost playwright said he was concerned with recent happenings,
adding that the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) had lost its collective
voice in rectifying the situation.

Soyinka further accused President Muhammadu Buhari of “lacklustre,
hands-off approach” in handling the menace of killer herdsmen which has
reduced the country to slaughter fields.

“It is heartening news that some 20 CONCERNED LAWYERS have come together
to undertake the mission of cleaning up the Aegean stables that seem to
pass today for the Nigerian Judiciary,” Soyinka said.
“Some of us do need an institution to which we can look up, of which we
should even live in awe. Some find that in religious institutions,
others in traditional fixtures, some even in family and so on.

“All agree that the Order of Justice is a pre-eminent candidate for
collective regard and even self-regulation. No matter, we all know that,
without Justice, society unravels at the seams, and its citizens resort
to self-help.

“Impunity stalks the land, indeed it is virtually lording it all social
interstices. Let no one take my word for it – simply turn the pages of
the media any day. Impunity’s ravages churn the mind. Somehow, this
nation – and here again we turn to our learned friends – this nation
generally failed to recognize, much less learn from the murder and
enabling implications of the unsolved murder of Bola Ige, the nation’s
Attorney-General and Minister of Justice. The Bar Association accepted
the casual disposition of its erstwhile captain and has – understandably
perhaps? – moved on. For some of us however, the files are not closed.

“The government at the time of Ige’s killers know the truth. That
government protected – I repeat – protected, and rewarded his killers.
Those who wish to dispute this had better first immerse themselves in
the circumstances of that murder, and the unconstitutional, indeed
illegal trajectory of the principal accused, one that not only
facilitated his unconstitutional participation in the ensuing election
but catapulted him straight to the occupancy of the seat that had been
kept warm for him during his trial and absence. On release, he was
ushered straight into the slot of Chairman of the Appropriation
Committee of the House of Representatives. That was not all. The head of
that government, General Olusegun Obasanjo, proceeded to burnish Ige’s
memory with characteristic zeal.” https://www.geezgo.com/sps/53616